published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This research investigated the teacher beliefs and the important aspects of value education in relation to the New Senior Secondary Liberal Studies (NSS LS) curriculum in Hong Kong. The NSS LS curriculum was first introduced to schools in the academic year 20092010. It emphasises the cultivation of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Therefore, it is suggested that value education should be an important element in this new core senior secondary curriculum. The focus of this study is to explore the beliefs which are held by the NSS LS teachers in value education and to identify the important aspects of value education in practice accordingly. The findings suggested that value education in relation to NSS LS is a common concern of teachers, and it is expressed as two themes: ‘moral standard’ and ‘critical thinking’. It was found that if ‘moral standard’ is the focal concern for teachers, ‘value instruction’ may become the main teaching strategy and ‘biased selection of experience’ may inform pedagogy. On the contrary, if ‘critical thinking’ is the focal concern for teachers, ‘value clarification’ and ‘providing alternatives for students to experience’ may become the main melodies in their teaching. In addition, ‘programmability’ and ‘role of emotions’ are the important aspects in which NSS LS teachers differ in their views of value education. Based on the analysis and findings of this qualitative study, some implications for future research are discussed. It is hoped that this study may provide some insights for those educationalists who are interested in this area of study. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The period 2005-2014 was the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Many countries, especially those in European and North America have been implementing or looking for ways to implement education for sustainable development (ESD) in their education system. In Hong Kong, Liberal Studies (LS) is an important new channel for ESD. It is the only compulsory subject in secondary schools which required students to learn about sustainable development (SD). There are a lot of similarities between LS and ESD in terms of goal, perspectives, values and attitudes, pedagogy and the development of skills, however, both LS and SD are new to many LS teachers. This study aims to examine LS teachers’ perception of SD and ESD and the ways they implement ESD through LS in order to identify opportunities and constraints for implementing ESD through LS and find out what can be done to further promote SD in schools. Apart from desktop research, first-hand data were collected mainly from questionnaires and interviews with LS teachers. Interviews were also conducted with some relevant government officers and LS teacher educators working at universities. This study finds that LS teachers generally support SD and ESD and have developed some common understandings on SD and ESD. They pay special attention to preservation and conservation and the controversial nature of SD issues. They put special emphasis on helping students see SD issues from multi-perspectives and balance different interests. They are able to recognize the importance of experiential learning, place-based education and active and participative learning approaches to ESD. LS teachers generally agree that LS is a very important channel for ESD as it raises students’ awareness and sensitivity to current SD issues and can help students think about SD across modules by applying the concept on different geographical and time scales. However, there are a number of factors limiting the effectiveness of ESD in LS. This study shows that there are four major types of constraints affecting the implementation of ESD through LS, including conceptual constraints, LS curriculum constraints, resource constraints and the over-reliance on LS. This study also identifies some opportunities to improve ESD in LS. Base on the study findings, some general recommendations for improving ESD in the Hong Kong education system are made followed by some specific recommendations for improving ESD in LS. / published_or_final_version / Kadoorie Institute / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education